Reading Guide for “Men and Women in the Church”
Our hope is that each of our podcast episodes will encourage you to read and discuss the books we cover in your communities and circles of influence. We will come up with a reading guide for each book we talk about in order to foster discussions amongst you and your friends. So, we encourage you to read the book in the episode and to use the questions below to talk about it with another friend or a group of friends! You can listen to Episode 5: “Gender Roles and ‘Men and Women in the Church’ by Kevin DeYoung” here.
What did you think about the book?
Why is it worth studying what the Bible says about men and women? DeYoung poses the question: “Is there any aspect of human life that has affected every other aspect of human life more than being male or female?” (13). Do you think this true?
How do we avoid building our understanding of manhood and womanhood as merely reactionary (toward chauvinism or feminism) or so narrow as to not be universally applicable?
How does DeYoung refer to nature as the basis for his arguments about the differences between men and women?
What are some of the differences DeYoung lays out between men and women?
What does it mean that the husband is the head of the wife?
What does the term “submission” mean? How does the Bible talk about submission?
What does DeYoung say about singleness (17)? How do gender roles apply even in singleness?
What arguments does DeYoung lay out for the role of women in the church?
Can women be deaconesses?
How does our understanding of serving and giftings shape our views of the roles women are welcomed to and prohibited from?
How can we empower women to serve in appropriate ways in the church?
If your child asks you what it means to be a man or a woman, what would you say?
Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?